DeArmond Starfire Bass

Mine's black. Made in Korea. Maple top and back. Comes with two DeArmond Gold Tone passive "humbuckers" (hard to believe they're real humbuckers because they hum like the dickens). Two volume and tone controls. Gotoh tuners. Medium scale (32" I think). Came with Guild gig bag. Not a lot of features, but to me that's good. I don't think things need a lot of features.

I'm running it through a Fender Bassman 300 Pro tube amp - which is a great amp, by the way. Had a hard time getting this bass to the point that I was happy with it, but now that I've got everything set up the way I like it, I really love it. The first thing I did was change the tuners. They stock tuners were cheap feeling and didn't keep the bass in tune well which should be job one for tuners. Replaced them with Grover Titans, and now it's solid as a rock. Unlike a lot of other people here, I really wasn't that excited about the DeArmond Gold Tones. To me, they just sounded muddy and unexciting. On the strength of another review here, I replaced them with a set of Hammon Dark Stars. The difference was like night and day. The Dark Stars are dynamic, responsive, wide range, and a whole heck of a lot louder than the Gold Tones. At $400 for a set, the Dark Stars seem outrageously priced, but I do not regret buying them one bit. I would do it again in a heartbeat. After getting the Dark Stars in, I had to do a lot of experimenting with strings to find a set that fit the bass properly, and that felt and sounded good. Roundwounds sounded too bright. Rotosound Flatwounds were too small a guage and didn't have enough tension, so the strings felt and sounded "floppy". GHS Brite Flats were a lot thicker and had enough tension, but the bass notes sounded way too "boomy." They also put just slightly more pressure on the neck than it could handle so the action was bit high. Finally tried DeAddario ECB81M Chromes. And like Goldilocks, they were just right! Good tension. Nice tight feel. Balanced tonal response across the whole spectrum, and as a nice bonus, a perfect fit for the oddball scale length.

After all the upgrades, I suddenly got scared that the gig bag wouldn't be enough protection. They don't make these anymore, so good luck finding a factory case. I hear that Fender will produce one for you, but you'll probably have to wait for it. If anyone else is reading this and is looking for a case for the bass, I discovered that the Epiphone Jack Cassidy case is a perfect fit for the starfire.

Before the upgrades and changes, I'd give this bass a 5 or a 6. After the upgrades, it's easily a 10 or better.

Very nice bass for the price. Even with the upgrades, this was still a lot less than a Guild Starfire bass (which also comes with the mud monster Gold Tones). I love that this has a bound neck. The Guild version isn't bound, so the DeArmond version, to me, a classier look to it. I'm not really crazy about the bridge, but it does it's job ok and looks pretty cool, so I'm willing to live with it to keep the sweet look of the bass.

Seems solid enough. The previous owner had moved the strap button from the horn to the heel of the neck. I assume because the hole in the horn stripped. To me, the bass felt really off-balance with the strap button in the heel of the neck. It always felt like it was tipping forward. I shaved a lot of splinters off a couple of toothpicks and shoved them into the empty hole in the horn along with some wood glue, then screwed the strap button back into the horn. It seems to be holding really well now, and it feels a lot better hanging off my body.

I've been playing music for about 15 years. Been playing bass for the last couple of those. Also own a P Bass. After the upgrades, the Starfire has replaced the P as my number one bass which is saying a lot because I love the P Bass.

One thing that's worth noting. Like a made in Korea Epiphone, this pretty much starts out as an inexpensive mid-quality instrument. If you're playing shows and expect to use it live, eventually you'll be driven to do some upgrades. But here's the nice part about the DeArmond: when you upgrade and Epiphone, no matter how much work you put into it, in the end it still feels like an inexpensive instrument. But after the upgrades to the DeArmond, it feels like a top-notch piece of profesional quality gear.

The DeArmond Starfire bass is an excellent reissue of the Guild Starfire II. The finish is superb and overall quality of the craftmanship is first rate. The pickups that come with it are good but not great. I use Dark Star pickups which are clones of the original Hagstrom pickups used in the Guild Starfire basses from the 1960's. With the Dark Stars you have a truly awesome bass, great looking too. The kneck is smooth and the frets are finely shaped, all very well crafted. These basses are getting pretty rare now and are becoming quite collectable. Mine was made in 2000 and I think they stopped making them either that year or the next.

The sound, again with the Dark Star pickups, is a thuddy, warm sound one associates with the greats of the 60's. I put Thomastek-Infeld round wound strings on mine, as many others have, and I'd strongly recommend them to get the most out of your DeArmond Starfire.

Overall manufacturing quality is first-rate. This bass is by no means a lesser version of the Guild. It's a true re-issue. It needed some adjustment and as I have said before, the pickups and the strings should be replaced if you want your Starfire to sound like a REAL Starfire. It's a short scale bass which makes if very easy to work your way around the neck.

The electronics are very solid and I've had no problems. It's a very rugged bass, surprisingly heavy for a semi-hollowbody. It seems built to last.

There is no customer support really. Though Fender will manufacture a case for you if you order one. It can take months to get but they'll do it. Many of these bases, like mine, didn't come with a hard case.

I've been playing for 5 years. I own a Rickenbacker 4003 which is one of the most awesome basses ever made but honestly I prefer the DeArmond Starfire for both sound and feel. I never thought I'd say that but it's true. I would definitely buy another if it ever got lost or stolen, in fact I may buy another one in another color if I can find one. If you can find one of these snatch it up. You won't be sorry. They'll only increase in value too. Just in the last year the price has gone steadily upwards. The word is out about what happens when you attach the Dark Stars.

See Previous reviews for this info, I am going to compare this to the reissue Guild Starfire, since right now I have both of them.

The sound is excellent, a wide range, and these DeArmond goldtone pickups really pick up the full spectrum of sound, especially for the price. They sound so much nicer than the ones in the reissue Guild, I ended up swapping them across.

Excellent finish, the only thing I can fault would be the paint is a little thin, as it is starting to wear near the lower F hole where I rest my hand. Action is great.

Really well designed, no complaints.

This is an excellent tool... pretty inexpensive, great sound, easy to play. There really isn't anything bad to say about it. The tuners aren't the best, they are just your typical stuff... and it's not as pretty as the Guild model. But it sounds better, it has a binded neck which the Guild doesn't, and it costs about 1/3rd that of the Guild.

This was made in 2000 or 2001, the last year they made them. It's a double-cutaway slimline semi-hollow body with sunburst finish, short or medium scale neck (not really sure which; doesn't feel as long as my Fender or as short as my Epiphone and I don't feel like measuring it), two humbucking pickups with volume/tone each and a three way selector, sealed Schaller-type tuners, binding on body and neck. It was made in Korea. It seems Korea is now making the same quality guitars Japan was making 20 years ago, and China is making the same quality guitars Korea made 20 years ago! That's globalization, I guess. You kind of have to judge this instrument on it's own merits cause it's not a Fender style bass, so I'll give it a 10 for features.

Warm, fat and round. I turn down both tone controls to emphasize the bass, but it's probably not necessary. This is one of the few short-scale basses I've played that doesn't sound "dinky," you know, not enough bass. It must be the pickups. It sounds great through my Ampeg B2R, Acoustic 150b and Peavey X-500 PA head (Laugh all you want, but it has a better bass tone than any of the "real" Peavey bass amps I've played through, plus I got it for free). I played it at a blues jam through a GK-400 head and got some harsh overtones, but that's probably because I wasn't able to tweak the amp. You could probably play just about any kind of music with this bass except for metal and slap/funk, so I'll give it a nine.

Great action, I''ve never had to have it adjusted. It was hanging in the store for three years, though, so some bored employee may have set it up when he had nothing else to do. No flaws that i can find. If the rest of the Dearmond range was a good as this one, I can't understand why they weren't more successful. It matches or beats just about any epiphone I've played, which seemed to be their main competition. Somebody at Fender deserves a kick in the pants for dropping the ball on these.

I've only played it live once, because I don't have a case for it, and from what I hear they're impossible to find. When I picked it up from the store I brought it home in an old Baldwin Vibraslim case, but it really didn't fit all that well. Given a proper case and a set of straplocks it should be fine for live playing. One weird quibble: when you play it standing up, the neck seems longer than it really is, due to the placement of the bridge on the body. It balances fine, and it doesn't affect the playability, but it's something you'd have to get used to.

Never dealt with Fender. I've heard varying stories about their customer service, mostly on this site, but I don't think I'll need to contact them about this bass anyway. I think it may have had a one-year warranty, which is due to expire right about now.

I got such a great deal on this thing I should be arrested. I'd been keeping an eye on it for a while, and when the price dropped to $325 I figured I'd better get it or someone else would snap it up. I've been playing for 20 years and this is the first bass I bought brand new. In terms of sound and versatility it's second only to my Fender Jazz bass. If it was stolen I'd have to hunt the person down and "teach the fool a lesson," as Mr. T would say.

Mine I believe is a 2000, made in Korea Starfire bass. Semi hollow 3 ply arched maple top, and what looks to me like an arched maple back, sides, and neck with a rosewood fretboard. Maple center block. 21 frets, 4 strings, 2 big humbuckers (DeArmond USA Goldtone Bass humbuckers), adjustable bridge, Les Paul control configuration (3-way switch, vol/tone for each pickup. Double bound body and bound neck, what appears to be Gotoh tuners, 30.5" scale. Mine is finished in that vintage, love it or hate it tobacco sunburst. Slim neck, with about a 1 9/16ths width at the nut. Comes with the ugliest, transparent knobs ever, at least the Sunburst one did. Something seems to be ratting in the bridge on some notes...apparently not uncommon for this bridge, so it gets a point deducted.

Wow...just wow. The neck pickup can blow people's heads off. It's everything that a neck humbucker on a bass should be. Like Billy Sheehan's "Woofer" pickup, this one has an absolutely fat sound. The Bridge pickup is a little more refined. My favorite is with both on, but the neck tone turned down 1/4th of the way. Surprisingly versatile, although unplugged it sounds a little weak. Funnily enough, on mine when you flip to eitehr pickup there is a little hum, and in the middle position, it seems to cancel eachother out....weird.

I bought mine new in the fall of this year (03). So someone had been sitting on it for qutie sometime. It was in pristine condition, with the plastic still on the pickups. The strings, which I determined to be the stock DeArmond strings, were old and needed to go. I replaced them with a NOS set of Urge I bass strings, which are made for a 32" scale bass. The action was fine, but the intonation was a little off. Finish is stunning, beautiful burst finish. No sharp frets, and they appear to be all leveled well. But I gotta knock off some points for the bad intonation.

Well, the neck strap button needed a little toothpick/glue to hold it in there, but other than that no major complaints. Since it is a semi hollow it's obvious more delicate than a solid body, so as long as you're not swinging the thing around, you should be fine.

No idea. I tried to call Fender once, not related to this bass, and apparently they need more phone operators, because I never got anyone to pick up. DeArmond has been long discontinued though, so who knows?

I actually got interested in this bass beacuse of the pickups. I found some sitting in a bin at another guitar store for $25, so I bought one with the intention of routing out my Warmoth J-bass for it. I came on here to read reviews of the pickup, and got interested in the bass itself. Lo and behold I walk into Guitar Showcase and there it was, a brand new Starfire bass, tobacco burst (which apparently is rare according to those on FDP), with with the original DeArmond hardshell case. So I paid the hefty price tag of almost twice the "blowout" price, for an instrument which I believe is worth more than that. Definetly a well crafted instrument, which is surprisingly versatile beyond it's seemingly niche market. Nice big thumpy sound, rich and woody. If it were stolen, I'd be really sad, and then angry enough to hunt down whoever stole it.

The one gripe I have is that it takes a little adjusting to switch back and forth between this bass and a full scale bass, but that's not a fault of the bass. I usually don't like J-bass width necks but this one is really comfortable to play.

Won't fit all music styles, but I've found a place for it in my band, and we're a punk band! One day though, I think I will have to get some nice flatwounds....

I would've only given it an eight for features except for one (well, maybe two) thing(s): The pickups are absolutely out of this world! Overall, the construction is about what you'd expect for an instrument of this price, but wait until you hear it for the first time through any kind of tubes!

This bass has a very tangible "doghouse" vibe to it. It's great for rockabilly/bluegrass type stuff with a little reverb/slapback echo and playing in front of the neck pickup. Did I mention the pickups? I can't praise them enough, they are SUBLIME! DeArmond pickups rule! Big, fat, and very forgiving. (Lots of output though, you have to tweak them a little so that you won't be constantly overdriving your amp.) The bass doesn't really have the punch of a Fender jazz or the clang of a Rickenbacker, but it has a wonderful deep, dark tone with very sweet upper-register response. (McCartney fans take note!)

I screw around with every bass I get, and the first thing I did with this one was put Guild flatwounds on it. About the only thing that annoys me is the noise from the bridge saddle springs. (Easily remedied with sponge or wood shims.)

I've had mine for about three years now, and though I've never gigged with it, I practice pretty hard and this instrument always delivers the goods. It's got cheap tuners, but everything else seems to be good and the neck stands up very well to changes in climate. The only reason I would have another bass with me at a gig would be that the DeArmond is not the most sonically diverse instrument. (It's got a very narrow range of tones, but it does what it does VERY well.)

Never had any experience with them...

I think as far as semi-hollows go, this one is probably the best I've ever played. Although I've never played the Guild version of this bass (supposedly better) or the other obvious candidate, the Jack Casady signature Epiphone, I've heard both and I like the DeArmond better. I've played for sixteen years and I own a Fender American Standard Jazz and a EB MusicMan Stingray. Once I buy one more bass (a Rickenbacker 4003, the fifth one I will have owned!), I'll have every sonic base covered. Once you hear the DeArmond through a fuzz pedal, you will utterly have to have one. (They're rare, so grab it if it's there.)

Not sure when it was made, possibly '00-'01. Bought it after Dearmonds had been discontinued by Fender, it had been hanging around in the shop for some time, very dusty, I don't think they thought they'd ever sell it. You know all the spec from previous reviews, mine is finished in a beautiful transparent red finish. No case included and Fender in the UK couldn't help so I had one made.

This is where it really shines. Beautiful vintage tone thru snarling rock sounds (with suitable tweaking on the amp) this bass covers all the sounds I need. Played thru an Ashdown 500w 15" combo, the best bass amps for the money IMHO, I can get all the tones I want for R'n'R/R'n'B and modern guitar rock covers. No feedback problems during gigs, even at very loud volumes (wish the guitarist would turn down a bit sometimes!) Forget the Epi semi basses, this is the real deal!

This had been in the shop for a long time and probably hadn't been well looked after, it had a broken volume knob and the action was too high. Fitted some Fender flatwounds and some adjustment to action and it plays superbly, no buzzes/rattles, the frets were well finished, the body finish looks like it will last forever. These Dearmonds were very well made and I don't forsee any problems.

Been gigging with it for two years now, no problems apart from the occasional broken string (my fault, not the guitars'). Everything is holding up well, stays in tune really well. I don't take a backup to gigs, this bass is solid enough to cope with everything I've thrown at it so far.

Fender in the UK aren't the most helpful crew. Weren't really interested in trying to track down a case for it, or the other Dearmond I've got.

Been playing for approx. 20 years, Blues/Rock'n'Roll/Rockabilly, current inventory includes a DeArmond T400 thinline hollowbody, 50's reissue Jap Strat, Jap 50's Precision Bass. Amplification is all Ashdown (bass and guitar), the best sound for the pound you can get anywhere IMHO.
This Starfire is a real value for money bass, the range of sounds is greater than you might imagine from the semi-acoustic design.
If it were stolen I'd be gutted as you couldn't get anything like it for the money anywhere else. If you can find one s/h snap it up, it will give years of Bass pleasure!

Semi acoustic. (same style as 335. Acoustic with solid core) Korean made in 98. Wonderful sunburst finish. 2 u.s.Goldtone pickups.
Slim neck. Shortscale....I think. Individual tone and volume controls. Good old passive electronics. The bridge is the same style as on jazz bass.

The sound is the best thing about this bass(It should be)
It sounds acoustic, but it has a lot of bite and the tone is not too muddy. (I find it really funky) I would say it's versatile, but not in the same way as a jazz bass(It sounds acoustic no matter what you do) If you compare sound and price it's really a bargain.

The action Way too low for me when I bought it, so I adsusted it. Then the bridge started to make some noise I fixed it(But i t really pissed me off to begin with) The hardware is o.k. but far from astonishing

I haven't played live with it yet, but it seems reliable. It is fragile though. The finish looks really nice but there's a bit comming off on the edges of the body.

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I just started playing bass, but I've played Guitar for 5 years. This is not the most luxurious bass ive tried, but it sounds and feels so good. The body is huge but it's just a matter of getting used to it.
And last but not least it sonds big and funky.

As above (or below-whatever..). Semi-acoustic, mediumscale, 2 Dearmond HB:s. No pickguard. Brownish sunburst (gorgeous).
Great, slim neck. Believe it was made in 98, Korea?
Sturdy tuners, good electronics - don't see any problems coming that way! Awfully hard to find a good case though - beware! Apart from that, no real setbacks.

I have yet to try this bass in a fullband rock-setting, but have played it on a couple of big-band gigs and smaller combos, where it played and sounded terrific! Very Round, full sound. Enough bite to cut through the 'bones and horns thoug, especially on bridge-pickup.

Expect this to stand up just as well in a rock- or bluessituation!

Experienced some hum on the bigband gig though, but may have been due to the house...

I bought this used and played right out of the shipping box - great!
May have been a careful previous owner, but everything felt OK. Dead old strings though, but hey, that's how I like it! Intonation feels Ok, may need smaller adjustments, but as I said-it was used.
Finish looks great, much better than the pictures I'd seen beforehand-great surprise!

Only had it for a few weeks yet, but it may not be quite as steady as my Jazz but since it's a semi- no surprise! All hardware feels good though, will probably change the strap buttons for shaller's locking, don't want to drop this baby on to the concrete... or wood floor for that matter.

N/A - Haven't had to contact them...
Fender has stopped making these, so i guess it might be kind of hard, but I've heard good things about fender customerservice, so should I need it - well, who knows?

Only wish I could find a red one too...

Seriously, I wish I could find a backup at the same great price. Would rather buy another one lik this instead of a Guild version, but maybe that's because I'm cheap?

Actually, for the time being I have two of these. I bought the first bass on ebay because I wanted that hollow body sound. After playing several other hollow bodies including various beatle basses and Epi. Rivoli's, I choose the Starfire. It looks absolutely awesome! It has a red transparent finish with a little bit of grain showing. The pickups look and soound great. The second one I also bought on ebay. It has a black finish which is reminiscent of a BB King Lucille. The red one didn't come with a case or gig bag, so I bought the black one beacuse it came with both a case and gig bag. I plan to sell the black one soon and keep the case that came with it. My advise is, don't buy one of these without a case or gig bag, you will NEVER find one unless you did what I did and search ebay everyday for several MONTHS to find one.

One of the best things about this bass is the pickups. They are truly first rate. The bridge is good and solid and fairly easy to adjust. It has individual volume and tone switches and a 3 way selector. With the 3 way selector, you can basicly leave you knobs in one place and just flip the switch to get different tones.
The body is semi-hollow so obviously it has a big body. It is fairly heavy but no worse than many of your solid bodies on the market. It is short scale so if you may have to adjust if you're used to playing Fenders like I was.

These basses sound awesome. They blow those Rivoli's out of the water. The pickups are huge DeArmond USA Goldtone humbuckers. They can put out both a mellow and bright sound. The one in the neck position is great for that "thumpy" kind of tone. The one in the Bridge is so bright, it makes my Jazz bass seem pretty tame in comparison. Like I've already mentioned, each pickup has it's own vol. and tone as well as a 3 way selector switch that selects the pickup combinations. This bass can get a variety of tones but I basically leave the knobs in one place and switch with the 3 way switch. That gives me a dull, mellow neck voice, a bright, "J-bass" style bridge voice, and a warm, strong blend of both in the middle position. This is not a slapper by the way, finger players only!

Both my Starfires were bought on ebay so both were slighty used. They came set up very nicely. Since you can't find these new anymore, most of them that you will see will be owned by someone, and not in a store, so they should be fairly well set up. I did lower the action a bit on one, but I love a super low action (I'm used to my Fender) The wires that connect the pickups to the pots have come unglued from the top of the bass and can now be seen through the f-hole on the black starfire. This coould be a common problem for older Starfires but I'm sure it's easily fixed and it doesn't affect the sound.

These seem pretty solid. There not solid bodies though, so treat them with a little bit more care than your trusty Jazz bass. Once again, don't buy one without a case or gig bag (these things have really good gog bags, made by Guild) It is impossible to find cases for these things.

Mine were bought on ebay. DeArmond no longer exist so parts will have to be obtained through Fender or Guild

I've been playing for a little over two years but I've been around music all my life, so I've caught on pretty quickly. I have a Mexican Jazz Bass that I love but I wanted a hollow body for a mellow sound. Also, my Jazz has basically one tone (it's a really good one, but I still need more that just one!) I've played over $25,000 worth of basses in the differnt stores across the country, and trust me, these Starfires can compete with the big boys. I've played the $1600 Guild Version and found little difference. The DeArmond version is basically just as good as the real Guild version. These things are becoming as rare as hen's teeth so if youj want one, start looking around right away. If you buy one of these, you will love it.